There is a well-known saying in aviation – “There Are Old Pilots and Bold Pilots, but No Old Bold Pilots”.
On the surface, this is good general guidance for a new and inexperienced student pilot learning the flight basics, the safety envelope of the particular aircraft and the need to check, re-check and then again verify prior to making a decision or taking an action.
However, the statement fails in one important area – if the student or newly licensed pilot has limited experience, how do they know exactly what is normal, slightly out of parameters, but still okay and then, what is a bold – ie, a dangerous action and should not be attempted?
Experience Matters
In his 2008 book “Outliers” the author Malcolm Gladwell popularized the concept of the 10,000-hour rule, which roughly says if you practice one skill for 10,000 hours, you’ll have a good chance at becoming an expert at it.
A few years ago, I was assigned to an international location by the USG, with my primary task assisting the host Nation in their fight against international narcotics trafficking, defending their Country against an Islamic fundamentalist threat and ensuring we were doing all we could to keep their people, and the Americans residing there, safe.
My primary point of contact at the international airport was the chief of security, a Gendarme (combination police and military) Colonel. He had served in three conflicts, been in a number of firefights and with having shared and undertaken such experiences myself, we became close, bonding as fellow warriors. I genuinely loved this guy.
That noted, he was absolutely terrible at his job. He missed the obvious, put focus on areas which wasted his unit’s time, he failed to increase security and by every metric, other than enthusiasm – in being bold – he failed. I was frustrated and we collectively were making zero progress.
Then (and it took me too long) I asked him about his experience with airports. Not about being a warrior/ fighter and these hard learned and unique skill sets, but merely with transiting into/out of airports.
Two – he had seen two airports in his entire life; the one he was in charge of protecting and one he had flown into/out of once in the south of his country. He had close to zero experience with airports – where I had years of experience and had received intensive training in intelligence and security and additionally, with my aviation background, I had seen and flown in/out of thousands of airports.
Hire an Experienced Private Investigator
There are considerable areas of commonality between the activities of a spy and a private investigator – surveillance, establishing trust with a source, using public and private data bases for information collection, planning and then executing operations, operating within the legal and allowed parameters and much more.
All of these are learned behaviors – no one is born with the skill to be an outstanding field or street operative, whether for an intelligence service or in the private investigation industry.
Prior to hiring an investigator ask questions – and a lot of them.
While experience alone should not be the sole determinant – and the quality and relevancy of experience must be critically considered, my suggestion is to go with the experienced investigator. Someone without experience may not know the ‘bold’ areas, which could get them – and you – into considerable difficulties with the local or Federal legal authorities.
Or, while less harmful, just fail to solve your problem.
I hope and trust the above was informative and hopefully of assistance in understanding another aspect of selecting a private investigator for your issue/problem. Please do not hesitate to reach out – [email protected]